Newer Buildings along the Costa Blanca...ugh!

While it is easy to be impressed with the charming medieval towns and villages along the coast, not all the towns and cities are beautiful. Sadly, many of the older fishing villages have been...well, let's say transformed, thanks to package tours from throughout Europe. What one finds in these towns is often very ugly, although I must confess I was fascinated by some of the newer developments going up. For those of you who don't know what Alicante and Benidorm and Calpe look like, and are not quite sure whether you want to find out, here are a few images.






One thing you will appreciate after looking at some of the newer developments is the impact of Vancouver's condominium bylaws that restrict what one can do to the outside of their unit!

Touring the Costa Blanca

One of the reasons we decided to return to Spain was because we had so much enjoyment exploring the Costa Brava outside of Barcelona last summer. It seemed that each town was a little bit more beautiful than the one before, and some of the medieval towns were absolutely marvellous. While we did not know whether we would find the same quality of towns on the Costa Blanca, on a number of occasions we set off in our large comfortable Saab looking for memorable places. And we found quite a few.

One such place was Xativa, about 50 km south of Valencia. An ancient mountain town, and supposedly the first place in Europe where paper was used, it was also where two of the Borgia popes were born. A large castle dominates the old town, and not wanting to wait for the little train that takes you up, we set off for the top by foot.

However, I’m ashamed to admit we quit about half way, blaming the 30 degrees plus weather, and the bottle of wine we had with the assorted fried small fish and an excellent seafood rice ‘soup’ we had for lunch.

The whitewashed buildings and narrow streets we discovered near the top of our climb reminded us of Cadaques on the Costa Brava, and places like Mykonos and Kefelonia where donkeys replace cars as a mode of transportation up the long, winding streets.

Perhaps the highlight of Xativa was its main street lined with giant plane trees…it was remarkable, and I wondered which civicly minded individual had convinced his (it was most likely a man) peers that this would be a worthwhile investment. I can hear him now….”I want to make Xativa the greenest town along the Costa Brava….” . Well, he certainly succeeded as you look down the main street.

Another memorable town was Elche or Elx, south of Alicante. In the white and ochre tourist office, set in a central park, we learned that the town is known as one of the shoe manufacturing capitals of Spain...

and has twice received UNESCO World Heritage Site designations, once for the magnificent palm trees that were planted by the Phoenicians thousands of years ago, which now are seen throughout the town; and also for the Mystery of Elx, a medieval mystery play dating back to the 13th century, that is performed annually.

One of the advantages of a house exchange is that you can often invite friends to come and stay. This year we were joined by Sally' longtime friend Maxine, and a couple I got to know when I worked for Building Design Partnership in the late 1960's...John and Lynne Townsend. When John was staying with us, he wanted to take us to Altea, known for its leather markets

Unfortunately, after a long day of sightseeing, culminating with a visit to the very awful Calpe, the ladies in the car wanted to return home. But we did subsequently make it to Altea and I’m glad we did. While we didn’t find the leather market, we did find a delightful white pueblo town, with narrow streets and lively attractive squares. Nearly all of the buildings were painted white, and were well cared for. It was a very delightful place. Another remarkable place was Guadelest, a 'must' on most tourist itineraries in the northern Costa Blanca. We drove to this medieval town along a very narrow, winding 10 km road…for quite a while we were the only car on the road...and didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived. What we were not quite ready for were the hordes of people who had arrived by the busloads to explore this outstanding place.

Nor were we ready to view a magnificent bright turquoise lake that was visible from the top of the town. Sadly, the souvenir shops have overtaken the place, and they seem to be selling some very ridiculous things….while I quite like some of the metal work, who would ever think of buying a rubber front door mat that says ‘welcome’ in a place like this?

(I did enjoy this white lady, who was one of many 'statues' we came across while touring the Costa Blanca...yes Jackie, I did give her a few coins before taking her photo!)

While many of the places we visited along the Costa Blanca were not as impressive as the towns and villages we discovered last year along the Costa Brava, these four towns were definitely 'must sees'....I just wish we had spent more time in each of them...well all except Guadelest....which sadly is being over run by souvenir shops which dominate the place...sort of like the T-shirt shops in Gastown!

Two Weeks After the Vancouver Riots, a report on Javea's street 'violence'

Just noticed this is my 423rd post. That's a lot of time spent on the computer when I should be out enjoying myself! However, I do get a lot of enjoyment sharing the things I find when out travelling around.... perhaps because I don't keep track of just how few people actually read them!

Children’s sculptures set on fire in Javea

It's two weeks since violence erupted on the streets of Vancouver following the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals. I therefore felt compelled to report on what happened in the streets of Javea on the evening of June 24th, 2011. Huge crowds jammed the Old Town and the streets were littered. On two separate occasions, men set fire to what appeared to be elaborate children’s cartoon sculptures in two of the town’s public squares.

But unlike the Vancouver situation, this was not unplanned violence by uncontrollable youths.

On the contrary, it was the finale to the Fiestas of Sant Juan, the patron saint of carpenters, although the tourist office referred to it as Sant Joan, and one guide book referenced Saint John the Baptist. What I do know is that it was the end of a two week long annual celebration that had included, amongst other things a chess competition, a cycling race, music performances, bull running, parades, children’s games and workshops followed by sardines and colas, a serenaders’ contest, the mounting of children’s effigies, a giant community paella, flower offerings, the burning of old junk…. all culminating on Friday night with an elaborate float parade featuring hundreds of young girls in very ornate dresses followed by the burning of the children’s effigies at 10pm and midnight in the town squares!

Like Vancouver, there was violence and the hurling of objects here too. Except here it was young girls on the floats throwing candy to the crowds….I know since unfortunately one piece hit my new camera in the lens, and decommissioned it for a while.

As the parade passed through the town, a uniformed sanitation crew swept up the litter in the streets…but this time the litter consisted of streamers and confetti thrown from the floats by the young girls and boys to the adoring crowds lining the streets.

The burning of the effigies was a sight to behold. We just couldn’t believe what we saw. A crew of pyrotechnic engineers draped the children’s sculptures with explosive fuses and firecrackers. Then they doused the cute little characters with what looked like olive oil, although it could have been a real fire accelerant…the kind used by arsonists. As dozens of watching photographers took photos, a small group of specially selected girls collectively lit a fuse tied to a nearby tree, and the next thing we knew, firecrackers were going off and the sculptures were ablaze. The crowd cheered.

The evening continued with the burning of a giant effigy in the main town square at midnight, followed by rock concerts and more firecrackers and fireworks. But having played 18 holes of golf at the Javea golf club from high noon onwards, and walked miles into the town, we decided to give the finale a pass, and instead returned to one of the many waterfront restaurant for some amazing tapas including fried small squid, grilled razor clams, sausages in sherry, potatoes piri-piri, and grilled asparagus with goat cheese.

While I need to do more research on the traditions associated with the Sant Juan/ Joan Festival, suffice it to say, this is a major event for the town…the families spend a lot of money renting the elaborate dresses for the girls…and perhaps not knowing anything else, the kids love seeing their cartoon characters set alight…no doubt believing that the evils represented by the effigies will have been eliminated, at least for a short while.

While I was pleased to read that Vancouver recently had a weekend of festivals, I do hope we can develop more as time goes by, since there is no doubt, based on the Javea experience, and that of other towns and cities throughout Spain, they result in great family events and traditions, which in the case of Spain, have been happening for centuries.

I’m just sorry we will miss all the Moors and Christians mock battles that happen in mid-July!

No Bullshit!

In Javea, where we are staying for a few weeks, one of the summer festivals involves the running of the bulls. While this is something I have watched on TV, I never experienced the exhilaration of standing in front of a charging bull until Friday night when we happened to come upon a street lined with unusual barricades. We followed them to a large dirt area along a main street in the historic city centre where a large crowd had gathered. Everyone was drinking cheap beer and I soon had a couple in an effort to join in.

After a few minutes I decided to enter into the ‘bull ring’ to see what was happening. As I stood there taking photos of the crowd, I suddenly realized there was a large bull charging about. Not sure whether to try and get a good photo or take cover, I almost waited a little bit too long…and suddenly found myself running for cover as my wife looked on with a mixture of disgust and horror.

A few days later I returned to show Maxine and the Townsends, visitors from UK what we had discovered, only to find there were lots of bulls running around the enclosure. This time I kept my distance.

During our four days in Valencia, we often found ourselves wondering why Vancouver did not copy some of the things that we found so appealing about the city. Some are small things, others are more significant. However, all would seem possible with some changing attitudes on the part of our civic officials and the citizenry. Here are a few things I would like to see in Vancouver

More waterfront restaurants

While we like to boast about our extensive new waterfront walkway system surrounding Coal Harbour, English Bay and False Creek…the fact is, compared to parts of Valencia’s waterfront, it is really quite boring. While we can count on one hand the number of waterfront restaurants that were allowed either inboard or outboard of the walkway/bikeway, portions of Valencia’s waterfront, like many other waterfronts around the world, are literally lined with restaurants.

Now I realize that it is probably too late to modify much of the existing south and north shores of False Creek, as well as Bayshore and Coal Harbour. But it is not too late to create new, vibrant restaurant and retail precincts on the remaining Concord Pacific waterfront and the undeveloped city owned lands next to the Olympic Village in South the seawall. While we are at it, we might want to change some of our ridiculous liquor laws too, so that people can enjoy these restaurants and cafes.

More Restaurants serving Tapas and Pintxos

Walk into many Valencian restaurants and you are invited to help yourself to a wide array of small ‘nibblies’ served on thin slices of crusty bread, along with other snacks held together by toothpicks. You take want you want, but save the toothpicks, since this is how you are charged. In some restaurants, the price varies by the type of toothpick…in others the price is the same. In some places, the food is beautifully arranged; in others it is more basic. However, this is a wonderful way to start a meal, or indeed, to create an entire meal…although often there are other ‘tapas’ to be had to complement the pintxos.

More plazas, public spaces and public art

Throughout Valencia streets have been closed off or laid out in such a way as to create numerous small public spaces, often lined with restaurants and outdoor seating areas. While we are starting to think about this in Vancouver, often as temporary arrangements, it is time for us to be bolder and create more permanent installations. While many people are enjoying the new food carts around town, we could be doing so much more.

More Festivals

Valencia and the surrounding region are known for various festivals that have developed over the ages and become a major part of the region’s annual life. In March, the city celebrates Las Fallas in which giant papier mache sculptures are erected in the crossroads and squares and subsequently burned on St. Joseph’s Day; near the end of April, two costumed armies march into the city of Alcoi and stage mock battles; throughout the region there are festivals featuring bull running in summer; and on the last Wednesday of August in Bunol, thousands of participants pelt each other with ripe tomatoes.

Now I can appreciate that we might not want to copy any of these particular festivities, but notwithstanding the problems associated with the final game of the Stanley Cup finals, I would like to think we could do more in Vancouver. One possibility might be something like Caravan which was and may still be celebrated in Toronto where each major ethnic group celebrates its culture in different neighbourhoods around the city.

Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciencies

I do not think I have ever seen any modern building complex that is quite as fantastic as the futuristic complex of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. It comprises five astonishing buildings…four by Santiago Calatrava and one by Felix Candela. They include a science museum, a concert hall, an aquarium, an Imax Cinema, and L’umbracle, a giant pergola of parabolic arches which is reminiscent of a Calatrava designed space in downtown Toronto. There’s another building still being finished, which has been used for a tennis match!

As I wandered around, I could not help but think about how Calatrava and Candelera could convince public officials to spend so much money on what can only be described as architectural and engineering extravaganzas. Some of the structural gymnastics are literally breathtaking, and I also could not help but think how much money could have been saved if only one or two extra columns could have been allowed to be added in a few places!

But like the Frank Gehry museum that has put Bilbao on the map, this complex has done a lot for Valencia and its civic pride. But not only to I wonder how civic officials could decide to spend so much on this complex, I also worry how they are going to pay for all the upkeep that will be required…since already one can see that repairs and maintenance are required. This is particularly worrisome since according to one newspaper story I read, the Valencia region is verging on bankruptcy and struggling to pay its bills.

But it is a fantastic set of buildings, as these photos hopefully illustrate.

Valencia: new friends, unemployment and fascinating urbanism

I did not know very much about Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, and the Costa Blanca before accepting an invitation from Manuel and Maria Jose to do a house exchange in June and July 2011. However, in summer 2007, Sally and I had a chance encounter with an attractive young couple from Valencia on a canal boat in Amsterdam, and we agreed that one day we would meet up again, either in Vancouver or Valencia.

During the intervening years we exchanged greetings, and they sent a postcard with a most fantastic looking building by Calatrava. I saw this building again in the Spanish Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Fair, along with other quite remarkable looking buildings. All of these small things helped Sally and me to decide to return to Spain for another house exchange, even though we had visited Barcelona, Costa Brava and Madrid last summer. After all, we loved Spain last year, and with the worsening economic situation, we suspected the country would welcome our tourist dollars.

We did meet up with our Valencian friends again for a lovely lunch. Luis Puchades Rufino is in the renewable energy business. He now works with Ludan, an Israeli country doing projects around the world. I urged him to explore opportunities in Vancouver, given our desire to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. (I must say, I have to smile every time I write this, not because I don’t think it’s a noble goal…it is…but having spent quite a bit of time in Europe and knowing how far behind we are in Vancouver when it comes to energy and resource consumption, I know this will not happen.)

Nuria would enjoy Vancouver too since her job is to look after the extensive gardens that can be found throughout Valencia. Again, if one measures ‘greeness’ by the amount of park space and plantings, Vancouver has a long way to go to catch up to Valencia. A former river that was re-routed following a devastating flood is now a major ‘green spine’ running through the city. There are also extensive plantings along the road, and the city has somehow managed to protect agricultural lands and wetlands adjacent to the city centre.

Travelling around the city I found a very eclectic array of buildings built over many centuries. While mid-rise buildings dominate, a number of dramatic new high rises have recently been built. However, with the economic slowdown, much of the new office and hotel space appears empty, and a lot of property is for sale. Luis and Nuria told us that Valencia is in a very bad financial situation with 22% unemployment…yes 22%, which perhaps accounts for the number of public work projects we saw going on around town.

Thanks Luis and Nuria for encouraging us, in a very subtle way, to visit your amazing city and treating us to a most enjoyable lunch…next time, it’s our turn in Vancouver!